This exciting matchup between Arsenal and Bayern Munich—whose Harry Kane will be playing in North London for the first time since leaving Tottenham in the summer—was set up by the quarterfinal draw of the UEFA Champions League. He will have a better understanding of their opponents than most having watched Mikel Arteta’s team comfortably dispatch Brighton 3-0 on Saturday.
The Gunners are vying for Premier League supremacy and have won six of their last seven competitive games (W6, D1), including a penalty-filled victory over Porto to get here. The Londoners have been excellent defensively in Europe this season; they haven’t given up in any UCL home games (W4). However, their last Champions League clean sheet loss came in March 2017, when Bayern crushed them 5-1!
Although the visitors have won their last three meetings between the two teams by the same score of 5-1, they won’t be taking anything for granted after blowing a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Heidenheim on Saturday. Their most recent mistake dropped them 16 points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, so the UCL is still their best chance of winning a trophy this season. They overcame a 1-0 first-leg loss in the round of 16 (just like Arsenal) to defeat Lazio 3-1 on aggregate, demonstrating that they are still a threat in Europe despite their dismal results at home. Since losing to Manchester City in the previous season (W6, D2), they have only lost once in this competition (W2, D1). During that run, they have gone three games without a loss against English teams. In their past seven UCL knockout away games against English opponents, that City loss is also their only defeat (W4, D2).
Players to watch: Bayern forward Kane has an incredible record against Arsenal, nearly averaging a goal contribution per game (G14, A3 in 19 appearances), while Bukayo Saka has scored goals from the penalty spot in three of his last four Arsenal goalscoring appearances.
Hot streak: Bayern has defeated Arsenal in all four of their previous two-leg Champions League matches versus German teams!